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Intelligent animals teach us a thing or two

It’s not only in fairy stories that animals can talk, feel emotion and solve problems, says the biologist Liz Bonnin

February 8 2012, 12:01am, The Times

Presenter Liz Bonnin on Super Smart Animals

I spent a year in search of the planet’s most intelligent animals and discovered that they match us in all the capabilities we once thought set humans apart — from tool use to language, culture and emotional intelligence.

The animals I met will remain in my memory for ever — here are my picks for the top five most intelligent animals:

1 The elephants of Botswana showed me that they have an incredible memory, remembering places they may have visited only once before, decades ago, and telling each other about it. They have a way of exchanging knowledge of places where food is abundant and exact times of year to visit them, not only to each other when they meet, but also across vast distances.